EU to raise import duties on ethanol from the United States and Brazil

The business of European producers is also suffering from the influence of cheap ethanol from the USA and Brazil. European producers are therefore applying to the EU Commission to foreclose the EU market.
The dramatic decline in travel and flight activity during the Corona pandemic has reached the biofuels market. The producers of ethanol and biodiesel in the EU have already had to cut their production and reduce their prices.
Brazil and the United States together produce 85% of the ethanol produced worldwide. The energy source is made from cereals and sugar fruits. If the EU market does not shut itself off from cheap imports soon, local producers will face huge losses. The EU Commission is urged to act quickly now and should levy import duties.
The risk of suppliers violating the rules is obvious. Europe is flooded with cheap ethanol from overseas and is also depressing prices in this country. Therefore, import duties should be imposed temporarily for at least 12 months, the industry demands. The French government will now send a formal application to Brussels. French manufacturers had already stopped production by 80% in the corona crisis.
US ethanol was already excluded from the EU market through anti-dumping duties between 2013 and 2019. These measures should now be taken up again immediately. In 2019, the EU again imported 3.85 million hectoliters of ethanol from the United States.
Ethanol from Brazil is benefiting from the sharp fall in the real exchange rate to the euro and the US dollar. The Brazilian currency is currently at its lowest level.